St. Louis mayor refuses World Series bet with Boston's Menino

The traditional World Series bets between city leaders will not happen this time, the St. Louis mayor's office said.

Mayor Thomas Menino speaking about the upcoming World Series against the St. Louis Cardinals.Credit: Nicolaus Czarnecki/Metro

A little war of words, in jest of course, is brewing between Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay ahead of the World Series.

Traditionally mayors of the cities involved in a sports playoff series or championship will make a bet between one another, something that Menino has done multiple times in his tenure. Usually the bet consists of food items representative of the cities.

However, Slay has refused to bet Menino ahead of the upcoming World Series between the Boston Red Sox and St. Louis Cardinals.

"The mayor of St. Louis said he's too busy to put a bet together," Menino said Tuesday morning during a news conference about the city's security plans ahead of the World Series.

Menino then poked fun at the St. Louis offering during a previous bet.

"We put a bet together before ... I won and I got fried ravioli. What are fried raviolis," Menino said, smiling.

A spokeswoman for Slay told Metro that Slay's refusal to bet has nothing to do with a lack of confidence in the Cardinals.

"Heck no," said Maggie Crane, Slay's director of communications.

Crane said that Slay felt it was "just getting unfair to others" how often he was collecting on bets.

"The Cardinals kind of spoil us with near ubiquitous trips to the post season," she said."St. Louis has so much to brag about with good beer, food and retail items, [retailers] were bound to get their feelings hurt if we didn't pick them."